Black Mesa - legendary vaporware Half-Life remake finally out

[Oriebam]

I really doubt if they could screw up an already existing game. Plus all of the industry media gave glowing reviews and god knows you can't accuse the modders of paying them off.

the modders used ideological tricks and traps to sway them

 

[Darklife]

Got halfway into "We've Got Hostiles", here are my thoughts:

Graphics: Pretty decent considering its an 8 year old engine. Source's water is still damn pretty to look at, but models haven't aged that well.

Sound: They added a lot of music of the kind that was frequent in Half Life 2. While those electronic vibes are nice, they seem a bit out of place here. For example, once you put on the HEV suit, this foreboding track starts playing, which doesn't really fit with the tone of the game. It's a lot less claustrophobic and lonely with the music.

Design: I last played HL1 about five years ago, so my memory may be a bit sketchy, but it feels like they've added a lot of their own stuff into the game. Some of these things are nice, like defining characters from HL2 like Barney, Eli and Kleiner, while others seem a bit over the top. For example, there's a lot more scenes of scientists being murdered by the military than there were in the original. Also, the military almost immediately start to identify you as Freeman and make you somewhat of a priority, when in fact it wasn't until much later when they caught on to your actions. Overall these things dampen the horror aspect of the game. Whereas previously you felt completely alone and vulnerable in a huge facility, now you run into NPCs pretty frequently, although this may change in the later chapters.

Gameplay: It's pretty much like in the original. One change I've seen so far, are flares, which can be used to light enemies on fire. Nothing worth noticing really.

Overall I'd say it's a very good conversion, although maybe they went a tiny bit overboard with modernising it.

 

[Oriebam]

Gameplay: It's pretty much like in the original. One change I've seen so far, are flares, which can be used to light enemies on fire. Nothing worth noticing really.

meh

 

[Gragt]

Here, take this medkit!

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I'm enjoying it so far. Some of the new additions are references to Office Space, the wonderful quote of "You cut the ponytail. Sellout." and the intro/tram ride gave me this feeling of awe.

Downside is that the Magnum now has a "Aim with sights" feature, which is rather pointless.

I'm currently at "Blast Pit" and there's a security guard who's acting as a decoy against the... whatever it's called. In the old game I just had to sneak really slowly and throw grenades to distract it.

 

[Luzur]

im hearing rumours that it is quite buggy/unfinished, is this true?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Well, I've run into some bizarre physics-related situations.

# Like being forced in a crouch-position by a clipboard that had landed on top of me and followed my every move.

# I jumped up on a couple of chairs that were lying close together on perfectly flat and normal ground. I was stuck in the air for a couple of seconds and then "landed" as in falling down hard, costing me almost all of my health. From an office chair. Lying on the ground. (Sudden Heart Attack Syndrome lives on in the Source engine.)

# Jumping and landing on a piece of wood that then proceeded to "stick" underneath my feet and follow me around until I jumped sideways to get it off.

# And finally, what caused me to quit playing tonight, a bug that loaded up a previous area I'd been in, only the screen was black (except for the HUD) and while I could fire shots and reload, there was no change in blackness and no sound played either. Haven't loaded the game up since to check if it's persistent.

 

[Jaesun]

bump

 

[poocolator]

Been playing it having replayed HL1 + exp about two years ago. They over-use fog in some areas, like the freezer area following the Anomalous Materials lab. That area I hardly recognized from the original, too, which led me to believe they took many liberties with map design. However, We've Got Hostiles! quickly subdued that nagging notion; it resembles the original far more in structure and form.

There are rooms visible through windows but inaccessible, and many doors unusable, not just in Office Complex, but throughout. I understand that this was done for verisimilitude to give Black Mesa the impression of size and functionality. I have to say that it's fine and doesn't detract from the map design too much. You soon learn to recognize which doors are usable and which ones aren't.

I'm in Blast Pit right now. It looks really good, much more "atmospheric" than I'd expected. The engine looks fantastic for its age, it's true. (And damn did they up the lethality of the bullsquid.)

Also, you don't get ahold of the crowbar till later than in the original. Likewise for the pistol. I relied on my security escort to get me through Unforeseen Consequences, and the bastard kept his pistol after he ditched me to browse porn on the security terminal, supposedly attempting to contact the surface. My only complaint with the weapons is the wonky muzzle flash with the revolver and smg. That shit shoots out a blue flame like Jesus himself has descended his lofty throne to possess your weapon. It's very noticeable when you're fighting human grunts who're using SMG's.

More impressions to come. Definitely having fun so far, and am in store for a whole lot more, once I escape the dreariness of the underground.

 

[IDtenT]

But is it better than HL: Source?

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Play it you stupid cunts. It's pretty good so far.

 

[Konjad]

but can i romance a headcrab?

 

[MetalCraze]

This shit refuses to launch. And it looks like I'm not the only one having this issue. Modders are silent thus far.
Modders. Nuff said.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Make sure to 1) have the Source Base SDK 2007 installed and b) have BM itself in \steamapps\sourcemods\BMS extracted. Start Steam and there should be an icon.

 

[DraQ]

Downloadan...

But is it better than HL: Source?

Vanilla HL1 is better than HL: Source.

Single reason? Source doesn't allow models composed of different materials, which kills a lot of quirks of HL, like partial armour with hefty DT on some enemies, and all you get in exchange for a major gameplay mechanics simplification is prettier water.

 

[Rhalle]

I'm not even through the experiment where everything goes wrong in the opening chapter, but it's better than I expected.

It's far more polished and less under the influence of console blockbuster-itis than I anticipated.

 

[MetalCraze]

Make sure to 1) have the Source Base SDK 2007 installed and b) have BM itself in \steamapps\sourcemods\BMS extracted. Start Steam and there should be an icon.

I know about that. It was the other issue. One of the suggestions worked.



Also

It looks like



Modders made Valve their bitch


It plays better than HL1 thus far. Although they failed first Xeen sequence (only vortigons? ffs) and crowbar was in a wrong place!

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

It's not a 100 percent 1:1 conversion. Enemy and Weapon placement is different (i.e. you get the shotgun a lot later). Overall I like it very much, sans the Marines who sound like a bunch of wussies. I prefered the overall sound design of the Original. But that's just peanuts in an otherwise excellent mod.

 

[taxalot]

I feel extremely embarrassed by this unexpected release, as the Dreamcast version of HL1 is actually next on my todo list. I guess I'll play Black Mesa after this one so as to compare.

 

[poocolator]

crowbar was in a wrong place!

SKYWAY ANGRY!!111

Anyway, the load times are atrocious, but maybe that's just my shit PC. The game froze up for me in blast pit during a loading transition. So far, I haven't encountered any other problems. My least favourite section comes next after Blast Pit, which is Power Up, followed by On a Rail (hurr hurr). Ah, well, let's hope they've made it less dreary than how it was in the original.

It's not a 100 percent 1:1 conversion. Enemy and Weapon placement is different (i.e. you get the shotgun a lot later). Overall I like it very much, sans the Marines who sound like a bunch of wussies. I prefered the overall sound design of the Original. But that's just peanuts in an otherwise excellent mod.

The marines are more stupid and less lethal in this one. They feel like sluggish combine cannon fodder rather than the hit-soaking, acrobatic meth junkies of the original.

 

[ohWOW]

guyz, but when it will be avaible on steamz?

 

[Multidirectional]

I did my first quest of fetching a dude in need some toilet paper and game gave me an achievement for it. GOTY. Liked the Office Space references too. Damn TPS reports.

 

[JrK]

Weapons suck though, they cannot hit the broad side of a barn. The marine AI also starts shooting you as soon you are visible, no reaction time whatsoever. It is more difficult than original I think.

 

[Utgard-Loki]

soldiers really are ultra aware and have eyes like hawks. they can act pretty damn retarded though. those infront of the rocket launch building? instead of advancing and trying to flush me out with grenades they just... stand in front of the door. opening and closing it, over and over. until i got impatient for one of them to trip my mine and just ended them with a satchel charge.

edit: i also don't remember them ever being placed or spawned quite as unfairly (not counting marines in a box) in the original, because some of those with shotguns stand next to a door with you being unable to do anything against soaking a ton of damage without foreknowledge

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I've just finished Residue Processing (which for me is THE worst part of HL1, game turns into a retarded platformer) and I'm encountering some more weird physics-related shenanigans.

Also, Auto-Save points are getting weird. One of the final points of Residue Processing involves disabling a tripwire mine in front of a conveyor belt hatch. Black Mesa autosaves as soon as you disable the mine. However, when I did it, I was too close and was sent flying off the conveyor belt into freefall, so everytime the autosave loaded, I was half-way to falling to my death. *golfclap*

poocolator: My game froze up as well during a loading transition in Blast Pit. Were you, by any chance, returning to the missile silo after having turned on the two pumps?

AAANNNDDD... it froze again as it loaded a sequence when I reached the main lobby. And loading times are a bitch.

Enemies overall are much quicker on the draw. Vortigaunts are a real threat, marines are more deadly but also dumber, and the assassins require twitch-finger reflexes from hell to take down.

 

[dnf]

I am very over some little things( Only watched a jewtube video so far XD):

1: Hecu Soldiers now speaks like little faggots! I want my macho marines Back!


2: I cant blow my enemies to little pieces of flesh(whats the term, is instagib or something?)! Its like a modern remake of a 80's movie!
3(hipothetic): Cant kill friendly NPCs

How can they fuck up this awesome features?